‘Rockefeller’ Hearing: Former Neighbor Identifies Man Charged With Murder by Another Alias

After , Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian called on witnesses Thursday morning that had interacted with the tenants of the 1920 Lorain Road home where the bones were found in 1985.

Over 25 years later, , who lived at the home with his mother Ruth “Didi” Sohus and his wife Linda.

The prosecution’s first witness on Thursday was Gustavo Perea, 77, who had lived next door to the Sohuses from about 1979 or 1980 until fall 1984.

Perea estimated that he interacted with Ruth on a weekly basis, often in her home, and with her son, John, on more rare occasions, perhaps going to coffee with him once.

Christopher Chichester

When Balian asked if Perea had known the man who occupied the Sohus guesthouse during those years in the 80s, Perea said he knew him as Christopher Chichester and no other name.

Balian asked Perea if “Christopher Chichester” was in the courtroom and Perea confirmed he was and was wearing blue, then pointed to the defendant, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who was wearing bright blue prison scrubs.

Others who lived in the San Marino area in the 1980s, including barber , have said they know the man charged with murder as Christopher Chichester, a well-dressed man who claimed to be of royal blood.

“He told me he did film,” said Perea, regarding what Chichester had told him about his occupation.

Chichester also apparently told Perea he had a cable program and Perea believes Chichester mentioned he was from England, but could not be sure.

Perea said he had been in Chichester’s guesthouse but could not recall the interior, though he mentioned Chichester gave him a table in the guesthouse that he had admired.

Attorney Danielle Menard, who recently joined the defense team, inquired as to whether Perea had seen Didi Sohus ever drink alcohol or if he would call her an alcoholic and Perea said no, but that she “enjoyed a drink” and he had a drink with her once in a “very long” while.

Perea described the relationship he observed between John and Linda Sohus as “very friendly” though he didn’t know them well, and never heard them argue.

Balian asked if Perea had ever seen Chichester do any manual labor in the backyard, since Perea had a view of the yard from the second story of his next-door home, and Perea said he hadn’t.

John and Linda Sohus Disappear

Two former San Marino Police Department officers were also called to the stand Thursday to recall their interaction with the Sohus home and its residents in 1985, when the alleged John Sohus murder occurred. 

Thomas LeVeque was a night patrolman for the SMPD for about two months when he received a dispatch in April 1985, relating to the disappearance of John and Linda Sohus.

Catherine Mayfield, Linda’s sister, told San Marino police at that time that she thought Linda and John were missing since she had not heard from them since February.

Mayfield had heard that John and Linda may be abroad in Paris, France on a secret government mission, and when LeVeque visited Didi Sohus to inquire as to the whereabouts of her son and daughter-in-law, LeVeque said Didi repeated the same story.

Didi Sohus would not reveal the source who told her about the secret government mission since it would jeopardize Linda and John, LeVeque said, but she was able to get in touch with them.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Denner inquired as to why LeVeque did not do a criminal history search on the young missing couple, but just a basic records search that showed John had a suspended license.

It’s not normal for a patrolman to do that, LeVeque said, but Denner countered that it is also not normal to hear of people conducting a top-secret mission in France.

Mother’s Worry About Missing Son Escalates

LeVeque would not be the last one to speak with Didi Sohus about her son and daughter-in-law missing.

Baldwin Park Police Chief Lili Hadsell, who was San Marino PD patrol officer Lili Bryant in 1985, said she went to the Sohus home five to 10 times that year, when it is alleged the murder of John Sohus occurred.

Hadsell described speaking with Didi Sohus numerous times that year about the disappearance of John and Linda and noted that Didi became “increasingly concerned” about the couple’s whereabouts.

“It started out that she had reported they were gone but wasn’t super concerned since she believed they were doing some work unknown to her,” said Hadsell.

As time went on and Didi got calls from collectors and people who knew the couple she became worried because they were not contacting her.

“My position was to tell her the police department was doing everything to find them and let her know everything was going to be okay,” said Hadsell. “Each time I went out it escalated to the point that I finally went out there and took this report.”

The report, written in July 1985, was submitted to San Marino detectives, who were then responsible for the investigation.

When the defense again asked if Didi drank heavily, Hadsell remembered smelling alcohol on Didi’s breath on a few occasions and a couple times when she was intoxicated but “not falling down drunk.”

Didi eventually shared that John and Linda were working for the parents of Christopher Chichester, the man who was renting the guesthouse behind the Lorain Road home, but Chichester had left town and disappeared a couple months prior.

Hadsell said Didi also shared that she had sent letters to John and Linda through Chichester and received postcards from them, one of which said something to the effect of, “I guess we need a geography lesson.”

When defense attorney Denner pressed Hadsell as to whether Linda’s mother, Susan Mayfield, thought the handwriting was Linda’s, Hadsell could not recall, but said she thought a handwriting analysis showed it to not be Linda’s. 

Check back for more testimony from Thursday’s hearing.